Instant view: Home prices unchanged in May: S&P/Case-Shiller

U.S. single-family home prices were unchanged in May, though prices were still down compared to a year earlier, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.

COMMENTS:

RUDY NARVAS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, SOCIETE GENERALE, NEW YORK

It's pretty boring. It's pretty much in line with expectations. The pace of further home price decline is slowing. There were worries that shadow inventories will cause another leg down in housing prices. That doesn't seem to be the case. There are signs of a pickup in activity especially in the multi-family sector.

MICHAEL WOOLFOLK, SENIOR CURRENCY STRATEGIST, BNY MELLON, NEW YORK

The unadjusted home price index was down 4.5 percent year-on-year. So while we saw some improvement on a monthly basis, the overwhelming likelihood is that we've not seen a bottom in housing yet -- and for good reason. Financing for mortgages is not there yet and bank appetite to extend credit has yet to recover.

DAVID SLOAN, ECONOMIST, IFR ECONOMICS, A UNIT OF THOMSON REUTERS

A 4.5% yr/yr decline in the 20 city May S&P Case-Shiller house price index is in line with market expectations and a deterioration from -4.2% in April. The deterioration in the yr/yr pace however reflects a strong outcome a year ago, when the yr/yr pace hit a high of 4.6% as a tax credit to buyers expired. This month's outcome represents the 12th straight deterioration in the yr/yr pace. However on a monthly basis a 1.0% increase was seen before seasonal adjustment, while the seasonally adjusted data was unchanged on the month after a 0.4% increase in April. These numbers follow a string of 9 straight negative seasonally adjusted months. The signs of a bottoming out on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis is consistent with other house price surveys such as the FHFA's, while price data with June's existing home sales report was improved on a yr/yr basis. We would however not count on this improved picture turning into a succession of positive monthly changes, given continued weakness in home sales. It may even be the case that seasonal adjustments are not strong enough, with the improved seasonally adjusted data in the spring coinciding with stringer unadjusted gains. Still, the deterioration in the yr/yr pace may have hit a bottom, with the data due to drop out in coming months being the declines that accompanied the post-tax credit hangover.